In the few years I've been bikepacking around UK trails I've yet to anyone who frequents this forum. When asked if they do most are completely oblivious to its existance. Is there a sticker / sew-on patch / secret handshake to advertise my affiliation to this place?

First rule of Bearbones is..............
You can normally hazard a guess by their nervous tick.

pistonbroke wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 5:19 pm First rule of Bearbones is..............
You can normally hazard a guess by their nervous tick.

Isn't that just with Boners in NW Scotland?

Especially in Summer

I work with one of them.

We don’t exist, it’s just your imagination...

I bumped into Stu in St David’s a few years ago too. At the time he seemed a little bemused, but I’ve realised that this is his natural state.

woodsmith wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 5:10 pm In the few years I've been bikepacking around UK trails I've yet to anyone who frequents this forum. When asked if they do most are completely oblivious to its existance. Is there a sticker / sew-on patch / secret handshake to advertise my affiliation to this place?

Often wearing a BBB jersey or T shirt.

TBH the smell usually gives it away while they're still a speck in the distance.

I suppose stickers and jerseys are a fairly good sign but if ever I'm in any doubt, I like to shout BONER really loudly at people and then make my decision based on their reaction

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:33 pm I suppose stickers and jerseys are a fairly good sign but if ever I'm in any doubt, I like to shout BONER really loudly at people and then make my decision based on their reaction

"Boner!!!"

I ran across JimmyG in the middle of nowhere this summer. I knew him already but it was still quite a shock as it was really remote.

I met a guy from Grantown on Spey while doing the Cairngorms inner loop a couple of weeks ago (who was also riding the inner loop) and asked him if he knew Scotroutes and he had no idea who I was talking about. Even the most famous of Boners are relatively anonymous!

I met Tim Field on a road in Wales last week, a road I'd only taken by chance 10mins earlier. Not sure if he's on here often but I know him from the TNR and RSR rides. Felt like a bit of a coincidence.

Felt like a bit of a coincidence.

Uhm, bit too much. I suspect he was stalking you.

There's a bloke I see frequently in Newbury who has some interesting bikes (Sven Pathfinder?) and a bar roll on some Jones bars, and always wears a cycling cap instead of a helmet. I like his style and he could be a boner, but it'll probably take me a few years to even say 'I like your style', let alone mention boners!

EDIT - I have met Wriggles when he picked up a frame from my house, and I hate to break it to you Shaf, but he's not called "Jase"!

Since moving down here I see bikepackers quite regularly. Mostly out of the SDW but sometimes elsewhere, noticed one ride past the house the other day (rarely looking out the front). KAW is nearby too.

Way too many for them to be boners. But then look at something like the Jennride. Lots of riders and only a small minority on the forum

A few years back I'd be able to recognise a fair number of bikepackers. I'd either have met them, recognise them from photos or have read that they were doing a ride in the area. That all stopped as bikepacking took off. I had a similar experience with the Fatbike scene. At first it was quite niche and everyone knew everyone. Then it exploded.

I did bump into Alan Goldsmith last summer. He was riding up Sgor Gaoithe as I was riding down.

A few weeks ago I took a wee trip to Cromarty on my Suzuki. I was just finishing a coffee when Metalheart showed up. As I was chatting to him, two other cyclists showed up who I also knew locally.

A few years back I was in an Aviemore cafe and thought I recognised a guy from STW so I shouted his forum name across the cafe without thinking.

His forum name was Peterfile.

Luckily, it was him.

Peterfile.

I've randomly met and chatted to a few on occasion here in the Forest of Dean, identified as Boners by their gilet or jersey

Not Boners necessarily but I'm surprised how often I bump into people that I know in the middle of nowhere; like Colin says, it's a small world out there amongst people with similar interests. It also surprises local friends I ride with when we have a day or weekend away riding in some remote area and we pass another cyclist and the call goes up "hi Pete" or "hi <insert name>" and they're like "how do you know these people?!"

His forum name was Peterfile. Luckily, it was him.

There's a guy I've met twice up towards Penn Wood. He's on an old touring bike with canti brakes and good sized tyres and very minimalist kit in a bar roll and one of those sideways seat bags that bump your thighs. He said he lurks on the forum but has never posted as he can't be arsed. Both times I've been on my fat bike and he's ribbed me about riding something so heavy and sub-optimal off road and carrying so much gear. To be fair, the second time I had a BBQ grill strapped to the frame (one of the shelves from my oven), my chair on the bars and about 10kg of shop-bought firewood in my backpack.

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Fri Jul 30, 2021 7:57 am

Felt like a bit of a coincidence.

Uhm, bit too much. I suspect he was stalking you.

Maybe I was stalking him, but wanted to make it sound like a coincidence.

bumped into Javi in Lochinver whist out on the HT
was great to chat for a few minutes and hear his madcap adventures.
Fair cheered me up

I think I rode past Rich and Tom (and the rest of the fam) in Hayfield earlier. Took me a minute to figure out who it was, and by that point we were grunting up Highfield Road.

Sean and I were decked out in BB jerseys riding through some trees somewhere north of Stroud when we squeezed past a family coming the other way, at which point the lady said to the man "he's wearing your shirt!".

Turns out it was Chrisps